Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. Has $1.78 Million Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 39,221 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 1,166 shares during the period. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,779,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 368,171,941 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $16,700,279,000 after acquiring an additional 4,347,416 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 109,866,405 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,983,225,000 after acquiring an additional 1,172,175 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 303.9% in the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 49,859,967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,261,648,000 after acquiring an additional 37,516,167 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 45,475,099 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,062,750,000 after acquiring an additional 431,789 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 38,893,487 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,555,351,000 after acquiring an additional 4,568,518 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on VZ. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.35.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $44.37 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $187.08 billion, a PE ratio of 10.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.36. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month high of $47.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $42.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.01.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $34.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.15 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were given a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.1%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 63.17%.

About Verizon Communications

Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of communications, technology, information, and entertainment products and services to consumers, businesses, and governmental entities worldwide. It operates in two segments, Verizon Consumer Group (Consumer) and Verizon Business Group (Business).